Ethics in Business Ethics Can Be Seen

Ethics in Business Business ethics can be seen from two perspectives. The first, highly personal view of ethics depends to a great extent upon a person's upbringing and life experience. Thus, if a person was raised to be ethical and moral in a general sense, and has been so throughout life, it is likely that he or she would be an ethical business person as well. Secondly there is the perspective from a business point-of-view.

Some have found that it is a sound business principle to be ethical, and that sound ethics also mean a sound bottom line. However, it does appear that ethics in business are experiencing a crisis. Some blame inadequate business courses for this. O'Neill (2002) for example blames scandals such as those caused by Enron and WorldCom on business programs in schools that fail to make ethics a priority of teaching.

Instead, he claims, the ideal of making money and rising to the top as a CEO has become like winning the lottery. The main focus is money and little else. It should also however by taken into account that when money corrupts business people to the degree where scandals are caused, the business world can learn from it. The point is that if schools teach ethics adequately in the first place, scandals can be avoided and business can operate in an uninterrupted fashion.

The problem is however that many appear to get away with unethical business practices, and even to profit from this. Salopek (2001) emphasizes that business ethics need not be considered from a personal viewpoint alone, and that it is indeed better for business and profit to have a sound ethical base. The basis for this argument is the public's role in business. When a concrete commitment to ethics is made, the public tends to have more confidence in a company, and is more likely to invest.

Salopek for example sites Management Review's survey of companies committing to ethics against those who do not. Companies for whom ethics appear to play a more important role then, were able to provide greater value to shareholders, and the market value added difference was larger. So it does appear that from a financial point-of-view it is better to operate in an ethical fashion than not. Furthermore ethical behavior includes benefits in terms of the quality of employees attracted as well as retained.

Persons who view ethics as important from a personal point-of-view would provide better quality service to the company, and thus both the company and employee benefit from established ethics. Employees will work within a more satisfying and productive environment, where both company and employee values are entrenched in the collective vision of the work place. Most importantly, the reputation of the company within the community will be sound. Public trust will result in public patronage.

This of course is better for long-term business than unethical practices where the main focus is profit. To connect this with the above education issue, students in a business class should then be made aware of the links between ethics and profit. This could serve as a motivator for sound business practice. It does appear then.